


Enter The Valkyrie, Stage Right

by DixieDale



Category: Clan O'Donnell - Fandom, Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 04:12:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15064877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: Casino was happy with his life, well-content.  Hell, went around with a grin on his face most of the time, at least when he wasn't off on a 'consultation' or trying to annoy the hell out of Goniff or Actor.  (He still knew better than to annoy Chief too much.)   So why did the reappearance of Dolly, no, the NEW appearance of Dolly's cousin, Myra shake him up so?  He sat there and stared and could only think about that music Meghada played when she got really really pissed, 'Ride of the Valkyries', along with her description of what the hell a 'Valkyrie' was.   That, right there, standing in the doorway - THAT was exactly what he pictured when he conjured up the image of a Valkyrie!  DAMN!!! Except, he'd never have had the imagination to also conjure up two pint-sized blonde curly-headed mites clinging to her skirts.  Once he got himself in order again, AND got that dropped jaw back in place, he just HAD to wrangle an introduction!





	Enter The Valkyrie, Stage Right

**Author's Note:**

> This one's for you, Myra!

Dolly and Rhorie were traveling through on their way up to Haven for a visit, and Meghada had invited them to come, stay for a few days to break their journey. It had been a welcome opportunity to spend time together, and the invitation had been eagerly accepted. They'd arrived in great spirits, with a great hullabaloo, and they hadn't come alone; they'd been accompanied by Dolly's cousin, Myra and her two little girls, them thinking to maybe settle nearer to Dolly and Rhorie eventually. Myra was a widow now and not so anxious to stay in the city with more ill memories than she'd like, but looking forward to some time with Caeide and her crew as well. While the ringletted blonde Dolly, ('Hello Dolly') a favorite of theirs from previous, quite memorable visits, was a pocket Venus, tiny in stature, voluptuous in figure, cheery and outgoing in nature, the equally blonde and cheery Myra was tall, very tall, though just as voluptuous and outgoing, and her hair was more wavy than curly. While in Dolly the overall picture had been frankly adorable, in Myra, well, the effect was rather like what one might imagine a Valkyrie to look like. 

"Kinda reminds me of Amelia, ya know?", Goniff took the liberty of saying, bringing a deep flush to Casino's face, the safecracker remembering all the wanderings through his dreams 'Amelia Haven Halloran' had done. ('Not All Battles Are Fought With Bullets') That was before he knew 'Amelia' was really Veron, one of Meghada's male cousins, a skilled impersonator; oh, okay, so the wanderings hadn't stopped then, he'd just stopped talking about them to the guys! ('Yes, Sir, That's My Baby!") Of course, even Veron's wife Gena admitted 'Amelia' was one of Veron's very best impersonations, so the guys weren't TOO embarrassed at having been fooled. It hadn't really surprised any of them to be told by a laughing Dolly, "well, Veron used Myra as the pattern for his 'Amelia'. That's her name, you know, Myra Amelia! Followed her around for the longest time, watching, her laughing as he tried to match her walk, her gestures, had her correct him til he got it all right! Even helped him with the wig and the . . ." and her hands outlined the extremely generous shape Myra had been graced with. 

Now, Casino found himself unable to keep his eyes off the statuesque woman with the two little girls clinging to her skirts; thankfully, none of the others, not even Chief, or Lizzie or Douglas, were in the least bit annoyed. They figured it'd happen one day, someone bowling the brash safecracker off his feet. If he decided to alter, even abandon their 'friends with benefits' grouping or whatever-the-heck you wanted to call it, well, at least Myra seemed to be someone worthy of him. "Ain't like that Gloria, back in the States, the one with the screechy voice and no brains. Myra's got a right nice voice, one you'd not mind 'earing at odd times, and she 'as more than a few smarts to 'er," Goniff admitted. "And the tikes, they're as good as they get! Don't you love the look on 'is face when they climb 'im like 'e's a tree or a wall or something? Might 'ave some natural talent there; might be worth training . . ." and both Craig and Meghada quickly nipped that idea in the bud, at least for now. Better wait to see if Myra WANTED her girls to be trained for second-story work! As they explained, "some people are just funny about things like that." Goniff was disappointed, of course, but figured she'd see the sense of it sooner or later.

Of course, Goniff was concerned, mother hen that he was. He didn't want the others to be unhappy, but he didn't really think that was going to happen, not now. He'd known Casino for a long time, maybe better than any of the others, well, not THAT way, acourse, being more than content with what he had all on his own, but as best friends, and he knew Casino had enough energy to handle anything he really wanted to handle. Goniff figured it would just be a matter of what Casino WANTED to handle, and how the others, especially Myra, felt about it. Selfishly he kinda hoped the group didn't just expand to include Myra. Well, he remembered how hard it had been to find a big enough bed with the LAST expansion, ended up having to have it special-built just like their own had been, {"cost a ruddy fortune, w'at with the special mattresses, and special linens, and shipping costs and all!"}, and he was pretty sure they'd have to build on again, or knock out a few walls to get a room big enough to even HOLD a bigger bed. As he told Craig and Meghada, in a totally serious voice, "aint like Myra can just squeeze into any little odd space on the edge either! That's one lovely armful of woman, that is! Always did like me a . . ." his voice trailing off at the lifted eyebrows and 'ah, yes? You were saying?' looks he was getting from Craig and Meghada. Maybe in his next lifetime Goniff would be issued a set of filters; apparently he'd missed out this time around.

He knew Dolly had caught wind of the Casino-Lizzie-Chief-Douglas arrangement as soon as she'd walked in; had heard her asking Meghada about it. "Myra really seems taken with him, as do the girls, but she's not a trouble-maker. Should we cut our visit short, Meghada?" Meghada hastened to reassure her, "no, let's give them all time to get each other's measure. She's been on the Friends and Family list all her life, knows how to be discreet about Clan matters. I like Myra, I can see Casino is rather smitten, although, I have to admit I've seen him smitten a great many times since I've known him. I don't get the feeling of any great angst amongst the lot; let's just wait and see. And the girls are darlings; Randy and M'Coury look at them as an early Solstice present, I think. Thank goodness they aren't prissy or afraid of Max or anything like that; they may be little, but they have spirit and heart. And isn't Casino adorable around them; they confuse him and enchant him all at the same time. He really is a big softie, you know, once you get past that rough exterior. Well, not in a bar fight, but . . ." and they shared a companionable laugh. 

And they had, taken each other's measure as it were, liked what they saw, all of them. Dolly and Rhorie had gone on their way eventually, but Myra and the girls had remained behind. Myra fit in well, becoming a favorite with everyone, laughing and flirting with Casino once she saw it didn't offend anyone when she did, pleased as punch when he flirted right back. The girls, three and four years old, seemed to adore him, and he got a real kick out of them too. Randy and M'Coury liked the girls, were liked in return, were happy to have them join them in the stretch of rooms set aside especially for the young ones, bedrooms, big playroom, their own library cum lessons room. The others were watchful, careful, making sure not to be quite so free and easy as they were wont to be in walking into his room, since he and Myra seemed to be testing the waters in all the expected ways. Well, most of them were careful. As Goniff reported back after he popped in, "just to ask Casino if 'e wanted to 'ead to The Doves for a pint", they seemed to be testing the waters in maybe a few unexpected ways as well. Goniff would probably say more, after he quit rubbing his cheek where Casino's boot had landed after the annoyed safecracker hurled that piece of footware across the room as his reply. Then again, considering Casino's temper, maybe not.

It took some re-thinking, but they'd gone through this before. After all, when Jess had arrived with Douglas, back from performing at that Clan gathering, her having become Douglas' 'Sunshine', being exclusive with Douglas, though again not in reverse, they'd already had to rework the mental diagram that illustrated their 'friends with benefits' grouping. 

It worked, after a bit of tweaking, a few discussions, and one long session over drinks that had more laughing than talking as they tried to diagram everything for Myra's benefit on a big sheet of paper on Garrison's big standing chart board in the office cum sitting room, from the beginning, through the changes, to the now - the results getting so loud and hilarious it drew the others from the various areas of The Cottages, especially when Goniff disappeared and came back from the childrens' playroom with a handful of crayons. "Best use these stead of the pencil, Chiefy, losing track of all the circles with all the overlapping and criss-crossing!" 

Finally, Craig noticed Meghada wasn't joining in the laughter and teasing, but just looking thoughtful. He asked her in a low voice,"Meghada? Is there a problem?" He hadn't seen any doubts or apprehension on her part, but she was good at hiding things when she wanted to. And he was reassured, and the others set off on another burst of laughter when she blinked as if she had been a million miles away. "Oh, no. Just wondering where I put that set of drawings, the ones for the Fourth Expansion. I think we just might need to get started on that. I'm running out of places to put people without the traffic keeping us up at night. And I REALLY have to expand the kitchen garden again!" The serious look on her face struck everyone as funny, and they started off again. That was Meghada, after all; whatever they could come up with, she seemed to be able to cope without blinking or turning a hair. Well, and why not? She was a Dragon, this was her Lair, these people her Treasure. Her ever-growing, ever-expanding Treasure, to cherish and protect and love.

And if Myra ended up being totally exclusive, not sharing herself with anyone but Casino, still it settled down into a pretty tame routine when you considered how it COULD have been, as she understood and accepted he wasn't likely to be totally exclusive in return. He was still Casino, after all. Meghada had explained from the beginning about Casino and his history of 'two from Column A, two from Column B, one from Column C, oh, and for dessert . . ." attitude toward the yin and yang of life, "rather like ordering in a Chinese restaurant, you know?", remembering quite well that extremely well-diversified batch of reading material she'd discovered while dealing with the mess in the Dorm, up at the Mansion, after the fire. "I truly don't know if he'll change or not, Myra." She'd been reassured by the truly amused, even delighted laugh Myra had given, not a pretend one that someone less generous might have tried to pass off as real before settling down to firmly separate him from the others. If there was one thing Myra understood, it was enthusiasm, and it seemed Casino had more than his share of that; she DID like that in a man!

Chief and Lizzie kept their own rooms, but shared a bed most of the time now, though with either Douglas or Casino joining one or the other or both of them on occasion as the inclination struck. On rare occasions it got a little more complicated, but not as often as it once had. They were all getting a little older and more settled, after all, with someone special already warm and willing in another bed. And, in the end, what did it really matter, except to them, them and the family? Because that's what they were, all other aside, family. And who better to understand that? After all, whether by blood or adoption, they were Clan, and that mean something - that meant everything.


End file.
